The Road To The Freedom——an Existential Interpretation Of The Human Stain

Philip Roth is a significant contemporary Jewish American writer. He occupies an important position in American literature because he has published dozens of excellent works since he became a writer. In2000, Roth finished The Human Stain which is the last novel of American trilogy. This novel describes a black American’s quests for the freedom and self-worth in the society filled with racial discrimination. However, after he reinvents himself to cater to the social needs, he is abandoned and persecuted by the society. Finally, he learns what the true freedom is. Not only is what Roth wants to criticize the racial discrimination or history environment, but also he exposes the nature and the existence of human being.The novel arouses wide public concern as soon as it was published. The scholars criticize it from different perspectives, such as identity crisis, ethics, tragic theme and psychoanalysis and so on. However, there are few scholars studying this novel from existential aspect. This thesis tentatively analyzes the novel from being-in-itself and being-for-itself, freedom and others with Sartre’s existentialism.This thesis consists of six chapters:chapter one introduces Philip Roth’s life and his main works, the main idea of The Human Stain, and the literary reviews at home and abroad. Chapter two is about the theoretical foundation. The author introduces the birth of existentialism, the main existentialists and their thoughts, and then the author talks about Sartre’s theory from three parts--being-in-itself and being-for-itself, freedom and others. In chapter three, the author describes protagonist’s being-for-itself, and depicts his quest for the being-for-itself. In the chapter four, the author analyzes this novel from freedom including free choice and responsibility. In the chapter five, the author tries to interpret The Human Stain from others. In this chapter, Sartre’s statement of "hell is others" gets explained well. The last chapter is conclusion of this thesis. Each person has his own dark side or inevitable stain, but what we should do is to treating him with a generous heart and understanding. Therefore, we would live in a beautiful society that is full of good human nature.